This willingness to pay a little more
for remnant space has created an interesting supply-and-demand scenario during
a post-Olympic/post-election year. And
this, says Schwartz, has pushed long-time
users of DRTV like Colonial Penn to
“balance out” its advertising portfolios to
include more digital and direct mail. But
even in this challenging environment,
Schwartz says the insurance firm will
continue to view DRTV as an “extremely
important” part of its mix.

“DRTV has been the model — within
Colonial Penn’s focus — for decades,”
says Schwartz. “And while at one time it
may have been the only mechanism, now
it’s simply part of an overall portfolio approach that we’re using.”

An Effective Way to Reach Consumers

A quick perusal of the most recent
Jordan Whitney ranking of infomercials
reveals two finance-related products that
currently grace the top 10: LifeLock identity protection and Yancey Events real
estate seminar. But if you dig down a little
deeper — and into such research outlets
as DRMetrix — the number of financial and insurance companies using the
direct-to-consumer approach is plentiful.

In January, for example, Green Shield
Canada (GSC) kicked off a new DR
response campaign for its SureHealth™
product. Created by Northern Lights,
which has also produced shows for insurance provider Square One, the “Protect
Yourself” campaign includes 30-, 60- and
120-second commercials.

“Direct response marketing is key toeffectively reaching Canadians who needprotection from rising healthcare costs,”Bob Doyle, director of individual marketstrategies at Green Shield Canada, saidin a press release. “As the country’s onlynational not-for-profit health and dentalbenefits specialist, we’re confident thatSureHealth™ plans are an affordable andcomprehensive option.”On the financial front, companies likeU.S. Money are using DRTV and LarryKing to sell government-issued gold,silver, and platinum legal tender prod-ucts. Last year, the firm launched a newline with the current goals and strategiesof this industry.” More of them are alsousing social media (a 27-percent increasevs. 2016), she notes, with DRTV and mo-bile marketing both posting 19-percentincreases in 2017.

Chow says D-to-C is helping insur-ers address the nation’s prevalent andgrowing generational gaps — particularlywhen it comes to “digital” versus “face-to-face” touches. “The generation gapsare making it more and more difficult forcompanies to reach their consumer basesin the way that those consumers wantto be reached,” Chow explains, notingthat insurance was historically extremelypaper- and agent-based. And while theindustry has been incorporating D-to-Cchannels like DRTV and direct mail foryears, the digital revolution (i.e., texting,push notifications, mobile marketing,etc.) has pushed it into a completely newenvironment.And that environment isn’t alwaysfriendly, nor is it easy to harness. For one,she says finding the right product to sellvia direct channels can be challenging.Compounding thatissue is the reality that most insurancefirms are using legacy software systemsthat don’t always “talk” to one another,and that don’t readily share information(e.g., customer contacts and emails) in away that behooves the entire firm. “Someof the systems in use today don’t even letconsumers fill out applications or obtaininsurance quotes online,” says Chow.“Because the systems are so old andantiquated, they don’t support the newFINANCIAL SERVICESMARKET

Prudential’s Masterpiece of Love short-film series is designed to connect consumers
to its brand with inspiring real-life stories and a website that draws people in to share
their own stories.